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Who's at fault?

el jorge loco said:
My legal opinion:
The Camaro is 100% at fault for causing this accident. However, you would have to assume that the pick-up was driving at the posted speed limit and no higher. Also, I can only apply the laws of the State of California, not any other state (this video was in NY).

The Camaro violated the law in two ways: (1) using the shoulder/emergency lane in an attempt to pass; and (2) tailgating. He could also be charged for reckless driving given what he is doing on top of the other violations to the vehicle code. The pick-up, again assuming he was driving the speed limit, would have been deemed driving normally, except the one bit where he used the emergency lane slightly to avoid collision with the Camaro.

At civil law, the Camaro is also at 100% fault because he caused the incident by using the shoulder in attempt to pass and then cut off the pick-up while in that position. Whether or not the pick-up should have let the Camaro pass earlier is a non-issue if the pick-up was driving at the posted speed limit.

No matter how you look at it, from a legal standpoint, based on JUST the video, the Camaro was the absolute actual and proximate cause of the accident.

My personal opinion:
At a certain point, you have to recognize that there is some lunatic behind you trying to pass. If it was me in the pick-up, I would have driven faster to get ahead of that one semi towards the end of the video and let this guy go. As you can see in the video, it just isn't worth it to give some asshole some grief. You are legally allowed to drive beyond the speed limit for a short amount of time if you can show that there was some guy behind you closing in and it was reasonably necessary for you to increase your speed above the speed limit to safely move out of the way.
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Jorge, good analysis. You do ambulance stuff? <ducking>
 
I notice some, from my own experience, other drivers refuse to let me change lane infront of them.
They match my speed. I'm not doing dive bombing, btw.
This usually happens when I'm getting on the freeway, and I want to change lane away from the slow lane.
I guess most feel they must be going slow (drive by reference to other car), so they speed up?
 
IcEWoLF said:
Camaro, what a dumb ass...
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Yeah. Camaro and PU both would not let the other win. I feel though the Camaro just wanted to go somewhere in a hurry. From the start, he turned his left signal light on to get infront of the PU. Maybe just common courtesy from both would have avoided the confrontation.
 
el jorge loco said:
Also, there is no such thing as a law that states the left lane is a passing lane. There are laws that state that the drivers should move to the right if they are driving slower than normal traffic.

Left-Lane Passing Laws: A State-By-State Map
The above article has a nice photo, but the author dispenses with bad legal advice. It is never legal to drive above the speed limit, even in the so-called fast lane.

Again, my opinion is that speed limits in this country are generally arbitrary and really make no sense.
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There are signs "Right is Slow Lane" in some parts of Cali Highways. I think it's OK to drive over the speed limit briefly to pass, avoid collision, etc. I use cruise control, at posted speed limit, a lot while on freeway. I stay away from lane #1 (left most lane or carpool lane). I don't ever have to worry about CHP.
 
tuc0 said:
There are signs "Right is Slow Lane" in some parts of Cali Highways. I think it's OK to drive over the speed limit briefly to pass, avoid collision, etc. I use cruise control, at posted speed limit, a lot while on freeway. I stay away from lane #1 (left most lane or carpool lane). I don't ever have to worry about CHP.
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As I stated, California's law on the slow lane issue is that traffic that is moving slower than the normal traffic speed should move to the right lane if possible, but normal traffic speed is still subject to the posted speed limits.
 
From any point of view, it is Camaro's fault. But if you ask me yes truck driver is as much douche bag as Camaro's driver.

BC, CAN is making "stay right except to pass" an actual law. I'm seeing a light at the end of tunnel lol.

You should stay out of passing lane no matter what speed you are travelling if you are equal or slower to traffic on the right... That's just my 2 cents.
 
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